THE SHORE ROAD MYSTERY

New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1928. First edition. Near fine in near fine jacket.. First printing of the sixth book from the legendary Hardy Boys series, in exceptional condition. Conceived by Edward Statemeyer in 1926 and soon packaged and sold to Grossett and Dunlap, the first three titles in the Hardy Boys series were all published simultaneously the following year Their success was almost instantaneous. Part of their popularity and endurance can be directly attributed to the original writer behind the house pseudonym "Franklin W. Dixon," ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane, who later wrote: "It was still hack work, no doubt, but did the new series have to be all that hack? There was, after all, the chance to contribute a little style. It seemed to me that the Hardy Boys deserved something better than the slapdash treatment [...] I opted for Quality." That quality helped propel the series, which ultimately accounted for half of all the Syndicate's sales (Johnson 142). Brothers Frank and Joe Hardy would become cultural touchstones not only through installments such as this early one in the series (which now totals almost 200 titles in all), but numerous reissues, rewrites, movies, specials, television shows (your intrepid Gen-X cataloguer is especially fond of its 1970s incarnation starring Shaun Cassidy), video games, and other spinoffs - so much so that Hardy Boys are now as synonymous with mystery and detection as their more adult counterparts Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, and Philip Marlowe. Both jacket and book are the proper first printing, conforming fully to Carpentieri and Mular. Scarce thus; rare in this condition. 7.5'' x 4.75''. Original red publisher's cloth. In original unclipped (no price) color pictorial dust jacket, featuring cover art by W. S. Rogers. 212, [8 - ads] pages. Trace rubbing and to jacket, with just a bit of wear at the crown. Touches of shelfwear at extremities of book, faint smudge to front endpaper. Else clean, bright, and sound overall. In custom red cloth clamshell with matching red velvet interior inlays.